James Edgerton was the only other airmail pilot with little experience. Unlike Edgerton, Boyle did
not rise to the challenges of the occasion. Thanks to his
engagement to the daughter of an Interstate Commerce commissioner,
Boyle was given the plum assignment of flying the mail
out of Washington, D.C. on the first day of service.

On
hand for this historic event were President Woodrow Wilson,
Postmaster General Albert Burleson and a host of federal officials
and reporters. Boyle climbed into his airplane and called for
the propeller to be spun. Nothing. A second, then third try
yielded no sound other than a slight engine cough before it
died. As the President and other onlookers waited, the mechanics
and pilots tried to figure out what was wrong. Finally
someone checked the gas tank, which was empty. Gas
was added, the engine started and Boyle took off on his glorious
adventure.

Lieutenant Boyle finally got his Jenny, loaded
with 124 pounds of airmail, in the air. His assignment was
to fly to Philadelphia, the mid-way stop between the Washington
and New York ends of the service. Unfortunately, he did
not make it. The novice pilot got lost and low on gas, crash
landed in rural Maryland, less than 25 miles away from Washington.

Thanks to his political connections, Lieutenant
Boyle was given a second chance to fly the airmail out of
Washington, D.C. This time, he was given an escort who flew
him out of the city, having given him directions to "follow
the Chesapeake Bay" towards Philadelphia. Unfortunately,
Boyle followed those instructions too literally, following
the curve of the bay over to Maryland's eastern shore, where
he landed, out of fuel again. Not even Boyle's connections
could help him now, and he was removed
from the service's active list of pilots.